spauldingk



(No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet- 1.

P. M. SPAULDING.

RAILWAY CROSSING GATE.

No. 446,082. v Patented'Peb. 10,1891.

Witnassas: lnlzanto 1"- v (No Model.) 3Sheets--Sheet' 2.

. F M. SPAULDING.

. RAILWAY CROSSING GATE. No. 446,082. Patented/Feb; 10, 1891.

, witn ssss: Inventord/}M4% 'Fittg.

( N M d l.) 3 Sheets-Sheet a. v

.F.. M. SPAULDING.

RAILWAY CROSSING GATE.

' Patented Feb, 10, 1891.,

Wi'tnssas: Inuezntor.

, UNITE TATES LATENT Erica.

FRANK M. SPAULDING, OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK C. BALCH, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-CROSSING GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,082, dated February 10, 1891. Application filed June '7, 1890. Serial No. 354,628- (No model.)

' To all whom it may concern; its inner end, which is pivotally connected to Be it known that I, FRANK M. SPAULDING, an elongated slot in the free end of the tread a citizen of the United States, residing at bar E at Z. The outer end of the rock-shaft Kalamazoo, county of Kalamazoo, State of is provided with a segmental gear G, which 5 Michigan, have invented a new and useful meshes with the gear I, which gear I is on Railway-Crossing Gate, of, which the followthe axle of the sheave H, and which axle has ing is a specification. bearings inan upward extension of the bracket This invention relates to that class of rail B, Figs. 1 and 2. way-crossing gates which are operated through Between the gear I and the sheave H is a 10 certain mechanisms by the wheels of the train; spiral spring N on said axle, one end of which and it has for its object the below described spring is attached to the gearI and the other and claimed novel construction and combinaend to the sheave H, the same as the spring tion of parts designed to facilitate the opera- N in Fig. 6 is attached at the ends to the tion and insure greater safety to the operatparts L M, and the sheave H is rigidly at- I5 ing parts of the apparatus. tached to its axle. By this means, when the An important feature of the invention is to tread-bar E is borne down by the wheels R of cushion the shock made by the sudden action the cars (the train running from right to left of the cars, so that said shock will not be imin Fig. 1) the gear I is turned on the axle of parted to the gates and the chain or cable bethe sheave H until the tensionof the spring 20 low described, and thus obviate danger of N is such that the motion isimparted to the breakage. sheave H, at which time, of course, said sheave In the drawings formingapart of this speciand its axle, the spring N, and the gear I fication, Figure 1 is a broken plan view. Fig. are all revolved together. By this means the 2 is an elevation looking against the outside first shock from the train is cushioned. The 7 25 of one of the rails of the track with parts sheave H bears a chain or cable to, which broken away. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the leads to the gate-operating mechanism in the front end of one of the gates. Fig. at shows case A andis attached to the sheave L therebroken details from Fig. 2, below described. of. Since the shock of the train is cushioned Fig. 5 is a section on line 4 4 in Fig. 2, lookby the spring N, there is no undue strain o ing from a point at the right. Fig. 6 shows brought to bear upon the chain or cable 20, enlarged lettered details from Fig. 5, parts and hence danger of breaking the same is being in section on line l 4: in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 obviated. If preferred, this chain or cable is an enlarged elevation of lettered details may be provided with the ordinary springfrom Fig. 1,looking against the inside of one sections y to still further guard against an 35 of the rails of the track. Fig. 8 is a section undue strain upon the chain or cable to.

on line 3 3 in Fig. 7, looking from a point at The gate 0, which consists of the two the right; and Fig. 9 is a plan view showing trussed bars, one each side of theupper end the gate transversely to the track, in which of the case A, converging toward their outer use it serves the purpose of a cattle-guard. end,as in Fig. 9, and provided at the rear end 4o Ata suitable distance from the point where with weights to act the ordinary construction, a roadway crosses the track a long tread-bar is attached to the axle of the gear-wheel K, is pivoted at one end at s to the inside of one which has hearings in said case. Below the .of the rails of the track, Figs. 1, 2, and 7 axle J is a shaft f, upon which is loosely This tread-bar rests upon a spring-support t, mounted the sheave L at one end of said shaft. 5 45 located between its two ends, and extends at At the other end is the gear M, rigidly atan upward incline, so that a portion of said tached to said shaft by the set-screw X. bar toward the free end extends above the up- Upon the, shaft f and between the sheave per surface of the rail. L and gear M isa spiral spring N. The ends In a bracket B, which is attached to the of this spring are attached to the gear M and I00 5o'ties of the track, is journaled a rock-shaft F. sheave L at o r, Fig. 6. The gear M of the This rock-shaft is provided with crank D at shaft f meshes withthe gear K of the axle J The function of this spring is the same that on the shaft the motion is then imparted'to the gearM and the shaft f, and all these parts L,'M, N, and f revolve.

The spring Nperforms still another function, viz: After the train has cleared the bar E and the gate is raised to a vertical position by the weights Cl, a, the spring N yields in conformity to the swaying motion of said gate in the wind, thus preventing an undue strain upon the mechanism and obviating danger of breakage and straining of parts. The chain 20, which is attached to the sheave H, passes between the pulleys e at the lower right-hand corner of the case A and passes from thence upward and is attached, as before stated, to the sheave L.

Referring to Fig. 1, a chain or cable a is attached to the chain 10, passes around pulley O, and from thence crosses the track and passes around a pulley 2 to mechanism within the case A, which is a duplicate of that heretofore described within the other case A, and from which the chain w .leads out in the opposite direction to other track mechanism which is operated by the wheels of the train coming from the other direction, said other mechanism ,not being here shown, but being like that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Of course the object of this is that the train coming from either direction may lower both gates, one at each side of the track at a road crossin g, or that when the modification is employed as a cattle-guard the gate 0 may be lowered each side of a roadway which crosses the track and transversely to said track, one of said gates being shown in said Fig. 9.

Returning to Fig. 1, a chain or cable u is attached to the chain 10, from thence passes around pulley 3, and leads across the track and around pulley e, on between pulleys 5 at the lower left-hand corner of the case A, and upward to the sheave L, to which it is attached. By this means when the train is coming from the right hand the chains to and u will be tightened, and hence turn their respective sheaves and lower the gates O, and during this action the chains w and a will be slackencd, as indicated by the .chain it in Fig. 2. Of course when the train is coming from the opposite direction the chains 10' and u will be tightened and the other chains to and u slackened.

' Referring to Fig. 3, his a signal-flag mounted upon a staff 9, which is pivoted at i to the sideof the gate (3 at a point above the longitndinal center of said staff, so that when the gate is raised the staff 9 will swing to a vertical position parallel with the sides of said gate. The staff g is provided at the lower end with a rubber cushion or spring Z to relieve the shock in case the gate swings down too suddenly to its horizontal position, itbeing understood, of course, that during said action the signal staff swings to a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 3, its lower end coming in contact with the ground. The object of this signal his the same as heretofore to attract peoples attention.

The casev A is provided with laterally-proin g provided with a rubber or spring cushion (J on the under side. The object of these stops is to prevent the gate from swinging lower than to a horizontal position, which of course is accomplished by the upper side of the bars of the gate in the rear of their fulcru m coming in contact with said stops.

In' Fig. 2 is shown a bell at P, mounted upon the case A, the clapper-lever m of which is provided with a pivoted dog it in a position for a projection r on the sheave L to come in contact with said dog, and thus operate the bell just before the gate starts to swing down to give warning to pedestrians, so hat they will not be caught by the downward-swinging gates. The lever m is provided with a projection 0, against which the end of the dog it comes in contact when the sheave L is turned in a direction to lower the gates, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. I The object of thus pivoting the dog at so as to come in contact with the projection O of thelever m is that the bell will be operated when the sheave is turned in the direction just described, and so that said dog will tilt to the dotted position in Fig. l,and thus be kept free from the projection r of the sheave when the latter turns in the opposite direction. The free end of the tread-bar E is turned away from the rail, as in Fig. 1, so that when the train is running in a direction to approach this end first the flange of the wheels will run between the bar E and therail of the track, andthereby crowd the bar E away from the rail of the track, so that it will not be pressed down by the train going in said direction. This is of course to prevent the gate from being swung down after the train has crossed the crossin \Vhen the wheels crowd the bar E away from the rail, the rock-shaft F is moved endwise in its bearings by said bar E, and the spring e on the end of the rock-shaft and against the side of the bracket B carries the parts F an d E back to place after the train has passed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patentof the United States, is-

1. The combination of a rail of the track, a'tread-bar pivoted at one end to said rail, a rock-shaft having a crank pivotally attached to said bar, a sheave, a chain or cable attached at one endto said sheavefan axle upon ,jecting stops 1), Figs. 1 and 2, said stops beor V which said sheave is loosely mounted, gearconnections between the axle and the rockshaft, a second shaft bearing a cushioningspring, a sheave loose upon said shaft, the other end of the chain being attached to said sheave, an axle above the second shaft, the gate attached to said axle, and gear-connections between the second shaft and axle, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a rail of the track, a tread-bar pivoted at one end to said rail, a rock-shaft having a crank pivotally attached to said bar, a sheave, a chain or cable attached at one end to said sheave, an axle upon which said sheave is loosely mounted, a cushioningspring upon said axle, gear-connections between the axle and the rock-shaft, a second shaft bearing a cushioning-spring, a sheave loose upon said shaft, the other end of the chain being attached to said sheave, an axle above the second shaft, the gate attached to said axle, and gear-connections between the second shaft and axle, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a rail of the track, a tread-bar pivoted atone end to said rail, a rock-shaft having a crank pivotall y attached to said bar, a sheave, a chain or cable attached at one end to said sheave, an axle upon which said sheave is loosely mounted, a cushioningspring upon said axle, gear-connections between the axle and the rock-shaft, a second shaft bearing a cushioning-spring, a sheave loose'upon said shaft, the other end of the chain being attached to said sheave, an axle above the second shaft, the gate attached to said axle, gear-connections between the second shaft and axle, a case housing the latter-named shaft, axle, and their connections, and in which case said shaft and axle have bearings, the bell mounted upon said case and provided with the pivoted clapper-lever, the projections on said lever and sheave, and the dog pivoted to said lever, substantially as set forth.

a. In a railway-crossing gate, the combination of a spring-supported tread-bar adapted to be borne down by the wheels of the train, a shaft, a sheave loosely mounted thereon, a gear rigidly attached thereto, a cushioningspring bet-ween them attached at the ends to said sheave and gear, said tread-bar being operatively connected with the axle of the sheave, a gate adapted to swing up and down across a street or track, a sheave operatively connected with said gate by suitable mechanisms, and a chain or cable attached at the ends to the sheave, substantially asset forth.

5. In a railway-crossing gate, the combination of a spring-supported tread-bar adapted to be borne down by the wheels of the train, a shaft, a sheave loosely mounted thereon, a gear rigidly attached thereto, a cushioningspring between them attached at its ends to said sheave and gear, said tread-bar being operatively connected by means of a rockshaft provided with a crank and segmental gear with the axle of the sheave, a gate adapted to swing up and down across a street or track, a sheave operatively connected with said gate by suitable mechanisms, and a chain or cable attached at its ends to the sheave, substantially as set forth.

Intestimony of the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK M. SPAULDING.

Witnesses: r

L. N. BURKE, BELLE O. FREEMAN. 

